So much for the post-9/11 warm-and-fuzzies. In 2002 the pop world got weird again

In a year's books, TV, movies, music and theater, it's possible to see deeply and clearly into the hearts and minds, the secret dreams and fears of a nation. Until you try explaining The Ketchup Song (Hey Hah). Page 251 of the pop-culture-sociopsychologist's handbook tells us that we must have used this novelty tune as an escape from relentless bad news amid war and recession. O.K., so what did that make Macarena in 1996? If America's fortunes have changed since 1999, why hasn't Harry Potter's popularity? And can any blather about America's longing for superheroes change the fact that a competent...